Digging out the old micro BR

Red62 · March 22, 2021, 04:02:27 PM

Nice to dig out the old micro BR. Sadly, my BR600 died some time ago with a power failure, but always love the simplicity of the BR's versus Reaper on a PC. Always struggled with the clean patches on the micro BR with my Les Paul... but my Ibanez semi with cooler PU's is fine. Such a shame that BR line seems to be coming to an end... I know the BR80 and 800's are still sold, but no real developements. Imagine a new BR but with the GT1000 sound engine built in!! Nice to see this forum still going and not the way of others or worse ended up as a Facebook group. Maybe I'll post some new micro BR tunes... rock on.

Bluesberry · March 22, 2021, 05:09:09 PM

Hi there....I am looking forward to hearing what you come up with on your old friend microBR.....they were and still are a fantastic peice of recording gear for the times and the money...

The Angus · March 23, 2021, 08:20:44 AM

Quote from: Red62 on March 22, 2021, 04:02:27 PMAlways struggled with the clean patches on the micro BR with my Les Paul... but my Ibanez semi with cooler PU's is fine.

Could you enlarge on that a bit. I've just bought a Micro BR for use with my Les Paul, and I would appreciate any thoughts on the use of the effects (South of Metal) :-)

Red62 · March 23, 2021, 09:45:34 AM

Hi Angus... yeah well I find the clean patches and amps on the MBR are always on the edge of breakup with my LP.. almost like having an overdrive pedal in front of the amp. I could never get a really clean sound even using say the JC-120 which should really be very clean sounding. Always thought it was the hot pickups of the LP.... but recently been thinking that as I run it on rechargeable batteries, maybe the lower voltage of the batteries was/is the issue. I've started using my mains adaptor with it now and changed to my semi for a while, so maybe I need more tests to confirm. I only pick the MBR up from time to time now.... mainly use Bias FX2 in Reaper for most stuff.

I just like the MBR!

64Guitars · March 23, 2021, 11:22:06 AM

Quote from: Red62 on March 22, 2021, 04:02:27 PMAlways struggled with the clean patches on the micro BR with my Les Paul... but my Ibanez semi with cooler PU's is fine.

If you're getting distortion because of the higher output level from the Les Paul's pickups, then you need to lower the Input Sensitivity of the Micro BR's GTR input. See page 29, step 3 of the Micro BR manual. If the "OVER" indicator lights in the BR's display, then you definitely need to lower the input sensitivity. The purpose of the Input Sensitivity control is to compensate for the different output levels from different instruments. So you should increase it again when you switch back to the Ibanez. Of course, you also have to set your record level properly (the Input Level control on the side of the BR).

The Angus · March 23, 2021, 11:43:41 AM

Ah, okay. Thanks for that. Burstbuckers on the Les Paul? I have not had a chance to sample clean sounds properly, I have some Bareknuckle Mule pickups which are hotter than the T-tops I originally had, but a lot closer to my blues heroes too. I guess turning down the guitar volume is not cleaning it up enough?